Vehicle Research

Isuzu Adds Two Class 5 Gasoline Cabovers

Isuzu introduced two new low-cab-forward trucks, including the NRR (shown), at NTEA's The Work Truck Show.

Photo by David Cullen.

Isuzu Commercial Truck of America, Inc. has added two gasoline-powered Class 5 low-cab-forward trucks to its lineup, and will begin offering a Mobileye advanced driver assistance package and backup cameras in May, the company announced at NTEA's The Work Truck Show in Indianapolis.

The new trucks include the 2019 NRR with an expected GVWR of 19,500 pounds and the 2020 NQR with a target GVWR of 17,950 pounds. The cabovers will be powered by General Motors 6.0-liter Vortec V-8 mated to an Allison 1000 RDS 5- or 6-speed transmission with PTO gear. The engines will be supplied by PSI.

"We're thrilled to bring the convenience and low cost of ownership of our N-Series gasoline truck to Class 5 and a whole new group of customers," said Shaun C. Skinner, president of Isuzu Commercial Truck of America and Isuzu Commercial Truck of Canada.

Production is expected to begin by the middle of 2020, according to the company.

To provide its commercial customers with greater safety options, Isuzu will offer a Mobileye package that includes a forward collision warning, pedestrian collision warning, lane departure warning, and headway monitoring warning. The forward collision warning alerts drivers of a rear-end collision up to 2.7 seconds in advance.

The pedestrian warning is operational in daylight hours and works at speeds under 31 miles per hour.

The lane departure warning provides visual and audible alerts, when a driver deviates from the lane without activating a turn signal at speeds of over 34 mph.

The headway warning helps drivers maintain a safe following distance and provides visual and audible alerts. It works at speeds of more than 19 mph and shows the amount of time in seconds to the vehicle ahead. It alerts at 2.5 seconds or less.

The Mobileye suite will retail for $1,132.

Also in May, Isuzu will begin offering a backup camera that's paired with an Alpine audio system on its N-Series and F-Series trucks.

The Alpine iLX-207 audio upgrade, which will retail for $1,264, features a 7-inch VGA touchscreen display and Bluetooth hands-free capability. The system is compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and, with an additional tuner, SiriusXM satellite radio.

For an additional $200, buyers can add Alpine's HCE-C1100 backup camera, which uses High Dynamic Range technology to show high-quality images in varying levels of light. The camera's 131-degree horizontal viewing angle and 103-degree vertical viewing angle helps drivers be more precise during parking maneuvers.

Additionally, Isuzu has discontinued its NPR Diesel and Reach models.

Isuzu's 2019 lineup will now include the NPR gas, NPR-HD gas, and NRR. New and updated trucks for 2020 include the NPR-HD, NPR-XD, NQR, and FTR.

General Motors has debuted a next-generation digital vehicle platform that will offer support for electrification, active safety, infotainment, connectivity, and the Super Cruise driver assistance feature, the company announced.

Explaining the need to restructure, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG Manfred Bischoff said that it is necessary to achieve the company’s “ambition to be a leader in the new era of mobility."